This study was performed to explore the potential impact of a modest reduction in dietary salt on population health. The authors project that a national effort to reduce daily salt intake by 3 g could reduce the annual number of new cases of CHD by 60 000 to 120 000, stroke by 32 000 to 66 000, and myocardial infarction by 54 000 to 99 000 and could reduce the annual number of deaths from any cause by 44 000 to 92 000. Analysis in different subgroups of the populations revealed that blacks would benefit proportionately more, women would benefit particularly from stroke reduction, older adults from reductions in CHD events, and younger adults from lower mortality rates. This intervention could also save 194 000 to 392 000 quality adjusted life-years and $10 billion to $24 billion in annual health care costs. The authors also showed that a population-wide effort to reduce dietary salt in the United States could be as beneficial as interventions aimed at smoking cessation, weight reduction, and the use of drug to reduce hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Moreover, such an intervention would still be substantial with only a modest reduction of 1 g per day and would be very cost-effective. In conclusion, modest reductions in dietary salt could considerably lower rates of cardiovascular events and death as well as reduce medical costs. In their editorial comment, Appel LJ et al. highlighted the interesting comparison of the health benefits of salt reduction with those of other interventions. They also underline the fact that for the vast majority of the population salt reduction is necessary and that the strategy that should be used to lower salt intake is a public health approach due to the fact that 75% of dietary salt comes from processed foods.
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